Grimlock 5e: Blindsight, Ambushes in the Dark and the 2024 Grimlock

A grimlock is a CR 1/4 eyeless cave dweller with AC 11, 11 hit points and a +5 bone club that hits for about 7. It's immune to being blinded and "sees" with 30 feet of blindsight, so darkness that cripples the party costs it nothing. In the 2014 rules that blindsight depends on hearing and smell (Blind Senses) and it hides well among rocks (Stone Camouflage). The 2024 grimlock drops both traits, becomes an Aberration, and gains a climb speed and better Stealth.

Table of Contents

• •Grimlock Stat Block (2014)
• •The Grimlock in the 2024 Rules
• •How Grimlocks Fight
• •How Many Grimlocks for a Level 1 or 2 Party?
• •How Players Beat Grimlocks
• •Grimlock Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Grimlock Stat Block (2014)

This is the SRD 5.1 grimlock, a Medium Humanoid (grimlock) that speaks Undercommon.

Strength 16 gives it a +5 attack, high for CR 1/4: the Spiked Bone Club hits for 5 bludgeoning plus 2 piercing. Everything else is fragile. Read the senses line carefully:

• •Blindsight 30 feet, or 10 feet while deafened. It perceives everything within 30 feet without sight and is blind beyond that. Deafen it and the radius shrinks to 10 feet.
• •Blind Senses. It loses blindsight entirely only if it's deafened and unable to smell. Deafness alone just shrinks the range.
• •Keen Hearing and Smell. Advantage on Perception checks that use those senses, so its effective passive Perception for hearing and smell is 18 (13 + 5 for advantage).
• •Stone Camouflage. Advantage on Stealth checks to hide in rocky terrain. With Stealth +3 rolled twice, it hides among rocks better than its modifier suggests.

The Grimlock in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 grimlock is simpler and harder to shut down. Its blindsight has no weak point, and the SRD 5.2.1 glossary says blindsight works even while Blinded, so losing the immunity costs it little. The climb speed lets it wait on cave ceilings. The type change means Hold Person and Charm Person no longer target it, while Protection from Evil and Good, which covers Aberrations, does.

How Grimlocks Fight

Turn off the lights. In total darkness, a character without darkvision can't see the grimlock and the grimlock perceives them fine. The grimlock attacks with advantage and the character attacks with disadvantage. Against AC 16, the +5 club hits on 11 or better (50%); with advantage that rises to 75%. Four grimlocks with advantage average about 21 damage a round (4 × 0.75 × 7), enough to drop a level 1 character every turn.

Characters with darkvision see in darkness within their darkvision range as if it were dim light, so the advantage mostly goes away against them. Grimlocks should target the human with the torch, then put the torch out.

Close to 30 feet. Beyond 30 feet a grimlock is blind. It has to get close to fight, and it has no ranged attack. Plan its approach: tunnels with bends, narrow passages, a ledge above the party's path. A climbing 2024 grimlock drops from the ceiling into melee in one move.

Ambush from the rocks. A 2014 grimlock hiding in rubble rolls Stealth with advantage. A 2024 grimlock just has +5 and can hide in any dark cave. Either way, the first round often comes with surprise.

Swarm the noise. Grimlocks find prey by sound and smell. A party that argues, clanks in plate or drags a cart through tunnels announces itself. Use that at the table: describe distant scraping that stops whenever the party stops.

How Many Grimlocks for a Level 1 or 2 Party?

Grimlocks are 50 XP each. For a party of four, using the 2024 XP budget:

Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator), four grimlocks are 200 × 2 = 400 XP, Deadly for four level 1 characters. In darkness against a party without darkvision, take that rating seriously.

How Players Beat Grimlocks

• •Bring light. Light doesn't hurt grimlocks, but it lets the party see them, which removes the advantage/disadvantage swing. A party in bright light fights grimlocks as AC 11, 11 hit point targets.
• •Stay beyond 30 feet. A grimlock can't perceive an archer at 40 feet unless it hears or smells them. Attacks from out there feel like they come from nowhere.
• •Deafen the 2014 grimlock. Silence deafens creatures inside its sphere, shrinking a 2014 grimlock's blindsight to 10 feet. Add a strong smell or a way to block scent and it's blind. This does nothing to a 2024 grimlock. See deafened.
• •Target Charisma and Wisdom. Its Charisma save is −2 and Wisdom −1. Bane hits up to three grimlocks on a Charisma save and cuts into their +5 attacks. Against 2014 grimlocks, Hold Person lands about as easily.
• •Don't bother blinding it. Blindness/Deafness cast as blindness does nothing useful against either version; cast as deafness against a 2014 grimlock, it shrinks the blindsight.

Grimlock Encounter Ideas

The flooded mine. Miners broke into a natural cavern and their lanterns started vanishing. A small band of grimlocks is stealing light sources, not out of need, but because the lights mark easy prey. Following the trail of broken lanterns leads to their nest.

The silent ward. A cleric NPC offers the party a scroll of Silence to get through grimlock tunnels. It works against the older grimlocks guarding the outer caves. Deeper in, the grimlocks on the ceiling don't care. (Use 2014 blocks for the outer guards and 2024 blocks for the inner ones.)

Bargain in the dark. A grimlock band is guarding a passage for a deeper creature that feeds them. They speak Undercommon (2014). A party that can talk to them learns what the creature is and what it wants before facing it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a grimlock in 5e?

The grimlock is CR 1/4 (50 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules, with AC 11 and 11 hit points.

Can grimlocks see?

No. They're blind and perceive with 30 feet of blindsight. The 2014 grimlock is immune to the blinded condition and is blind beyond 30 feet.

How does Blind Senses work?

The 2014 grimlock can't use its blindsight while it is deafened and unable to smell. If it's only deafened, its blindsight drops from 30 feet to 10 feet. The 2024 grimlock has no such weakness.

Are grimlocks Humanoids or Aberrations?

In the 2014 rules, grimlocks are Humanoids (grimlock). In the 2024 rules, they're Aberrations, so Humanoid-only spells like Hold Person and Charm Person can't target them.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.